In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the world’s largest accidental marine oil spill, countries from the States and Territories bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico recently demonstrated their political commitment to the protection of the marine environment from land-based sources and activities, by bringing into force the Land Based Sources of Marine Pollution Protocol, known as LBS.

During the 14th
Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) of the Secretariat to the Convention
for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the
Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention), held in Montego Bay,
Jamaica from 6th to 9th
October, the Government of the Bahamas announced that documents for
accession to the Cartagena Convention, Oil Spills and the LBS Protocols
had been deposited in Colombia on 11th
June, bringing the total of countries which have ratified the LBS
Protocol to 9, the number needed for entry into force. Bahamas thus
joins Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, United States, France, Belize, Saint
Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana as full Parties to the LBS
Protocol.

Delegates
in attendance from over 23 Wider Caribbean governments congratulated
the Bahamas for ratifying the LBS Protocol, and thanked the Secretariat
to the Convention, the United Nations Environment Programme’s Regional
Coordinating Unit (UNEP/CAR-RCU), for its tireless support to the
efforts by countries to ratify the Convention and all of its Protocols.

The
only regional legal framework for the protection and sustainable
development of the Caribbean Sea, the Cartagena Convention includes the
Oil Spills Protocol, which has been in force since 1996, the SPAW
Protocol in force since 2000, and the LBS Protocol, adopted in 1999, but
not in force until now. The LBS Protocol provides guidance to prevent
and reduce the staggering 80% of global marine pollution originating
from land based sources and activities such as domestic sewage, and
agricultural run-off.

The
LBS Protocol provides the framework for addressing pollution based on
national and regional needs and priorities, focusing on addressing the
sources of pollution. The main text of the Protocol lists general
obligations for the Parties to the Protocol, including establishing
legally binding effluent limitations for domestic sewage, and developing
plans for the reduction and control of agricultural non-point sources.

The
recent announcement at the 14th IGM by the Government of the Bahamas
not only sets the stage for the entry into force of the LBS Protocol,
but also indicates a new phase of activity for the Cartagena Convention
Secretariat. UNEP/CAR-RCU’s activities will shift in focus from
preparing countries for ratification to assisting countries with
implementation of LBS. On becoming a Party to the LBS Protocol, the
member country can request the assistance of UNEP/CAR-RCU and other
specialized agencies in the region to build national capacity.
Identifying financial and technical support for wastewater management,
recreational water quality monitoring, and the revision of legislation
and regulations on pollution prevention, reduction and control are just a
few of the areas in which the Secretariat will provide support.

Speaking
on behalf of the Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention, Mr. Nelson
Andrade Colmenares, who has been Coordinator of the Caribbean
Environment Programme since 1996, affirmed: “Who can doubt the
continuing importance of safeguarding the marine environment, when
untreated sewage and garbage continue to enter the Caribbean Sea
impacting negatively on human health, fisheries, tourism and the
environment. The Cartagena Convention and its Protocols continue to
provide Governments of the Wider Caribbean Region with a valuable legal
framework within which to combat marine pollution and conserve
biodiversity. Having the LBS Protocol enter into force signals a new
era of cooperation among all our member states, and a renewed
strengthening of their commitment to preserving our Caribbean marine
environment for future generations. At the Secretariat, we join in this
effort, and will continue to design and implement the most appropriate
programmes, activities and initiatives to address the ever-increasing
complexity of marine and coastal management in the Wider Caribbean.”

The
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Caribbean
Environment Programme (CEP) in 1976 under the framework of its Regional
Seas Programme. It was developed on the importance and value of the
Wider Caribbean Region’s fragile and vulnerable coastal and marine
ecosystems including an abundant and mainly endemic flora and fauna.

A
Caribbean Action Plan was adopted by the Countries of the Wider
Caribbean Region (WCR) and that led to the development and adoption of
the Cartagena Convention on 24 March 1983. This Convention is the first
regionally binding treaty of its kind that seeks to protect and develop
the marine environment of the WCR. Since its entry into force on 11
October 1986, 24 of the 28 WCR countries have become contracting
parties.

The Convention is supported by three protocols:

Protocol concerning Cooperation in combating Oil Spills, which entered into force on October 11, 1986;

Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW), which entered into force on June 18, 2000.

Protocol concerning Pollution from Land-based sources and activities, which will enter into force in 2010.

In
addition, each Protocol is served by a Regional Activity Centre. These
Centers are based in The Netherlands Antilles (Regional Marine Pollution
Emergency Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean,
RAC/REMPEITC) for the Oil Spills Protocol; in Guadeloupe (RAC/SPAW) for
the SPAW Protocol and in Cuba (Centre of Engineering and Environmental
Management of Coasts and Bays) and Trinidad & Tobago (Institute of
Marine Affairs) both for the LBS Protocol.

The
Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU), established in 1986, serves
as the Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention and is based in Kingston,
Jamaica. As they endeavour to protect the Caribbean Sea and sustain our
future, we look forward to their continued effort to combat marine
pollution by facilitating the implementation of the Cartagena Convention
and its Protocols in the Wider Caribbean Region.